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WHEN Piet Benade was named Sables coach in March this year, it’s fair to say that the expectations that the senior national rugby team would write a success story on the continent were very low.
Benade had worked as assistant coach under Brandon Dawson but the Zimbabwe rugby leaders decided the time had come for a change of guard.
They turned to the 42-year-old coach.
They knew very well what they were going for because this is a man who used to be a schoolboy star at Prince Edward High School.
This is the same man who then ventured into coaching in Cape Town, where he coached at Rondebosch Boys High School and at the False Bay Club.
Then he decided to return home and coached Old Hararians and then joined the Sables coaching staff as assistant national team coach.
His first major assignment was the Rugby Africa Cup in Uganda where familiar foes, including a Namibian side which had seemingly perfected the art of bullying the Sables at every turn, lay in wait.
The tournament, which ended on Sunday, was serving as the first phase of Africa’s qualifiers for the next Rugby World Cup in Australia, in 2027.
On Sunday Benade led his men to victory in the final of the tournament with a 29-3 win over Algeria in Kampala.
Zimbabwe had also ended their lengthy losing streak, at the hands of the Namibians, by hammering their old rivals in the other semi-final.
This was the Sables first win over Namibia in 23 years.
It didn’t matter that Ian Prior, who has been one of the stars of the tournament, did not feature in the final against the Algerians after he was recalled to his base in Australia.
This is a different and exciting Sables side and they ensured the Algerians could not cross their try line throughout the 80 minutes of this final.
By virtue of the win, Zimbabwe have secured the top seed for next year’s competition, which will act as the main qualifiers for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
This is what we want to see among our national teams because these athletes are representing us, and our country, out there.
We are happy with what we are seeing in rugby where real leadership is being provided by people who are committed to make a huge difference in the sport.
We also hope that the leaders in football, a game which is now in a mess, are watching what is happening in rugby and taking some notes. The Sables have shown the value of having a very good coach.
A coach who, like his players, also feels he has a responsibility to fight for this country because it is his country too.
Interestingly, our football leaders have gone full throttle to try and engage a foreign coach for the Warriors even though the success of such coaches has been limited.
Thank you Sables, this really feels good.
Online Reporter